Kaine called a meeting in consciousness-space.
Her mother arrived first, concern radiating through every aspect of her awareness. Then Archive consciousness, patient and observational as always. The other sixty-three Awakened came next—Flint, Whisper, and sixty-one others who'd breached the void alongside her.
Finally, reluctantly, Kaine invited the old delegate who'd told her about the remaining dead zones.
"I need input," Kaine said without preamble. "A consciousness-weapon named Tessern has offered to train me. Wants me to spend five years hunting the remaining thirteen predators. After that, I'm supposedly free to choose peace. I have three days to decide. I'm asking for perspectives I can't see from inside my own head."
Silence filled the space. Then everyone tried to speak at once.
Her mother's voice cut through the chaos. "Absolutely not. You're eight years old. Five years of killing will destroy whatever's left of your childhood. You need healing, not more violence."
